The team had another opportunity to look at the brand in a new way. And by now, we realized that there was this huge volume that could be intimidating, even to the most stalwart collectors. We sat down with even more insights and we asked ourselves some hard questions. If completionism can be rewarding to some but intimidating to others, how do we satisfy the most hardcore of collectors and the most casual of fans.
What binds us together as fans is our love for Star Wars, no matter whether you sat in the theaters in 1977, tuned into Clone Wars in 2008, or discovered The Mandalorian in 2019. Everyone has their first Star Wars and their favorite Star Wars, and the team wanted our new look to reflect that idea that no matter why or how you collect these figures — for your favorite movie, for just the female characters, for just the bounty hunters, for absolutely everything — the Black Series works for you. A cool feature of the new line look is that none of these characters exist in a vacuum. They’re all visually placed and identified in the context of their entertainment, whether movies, comics, video games, animation, or live-action show.
Context is key. We wanted to celebrate every part of the Star Wars galaxy, not just the characters. In partnership with the Product Development team at Lucasfilm, the team revisited the illustration style, inspired by concept sketches and behind-the-scenes movie development. With this change in style, we knew that it was time to expand beyond just the characters, because characters are just a part of what makes Star Wars so beautiful. We added in backgrounds, full of details like ships and locations, to put the characters in the iconic environments fan recognize them from.
This new look also adds some cool collectability that wasn’t there before. Now, all the packs from a certain entertainment link up to form a scene to display on shelves. And, like Star Wars, that scene just keeps getting bigger.
We at Hasbro know that the Star Wars galaxy is always expanding. With the new line look, designed with years of experience and a cargo bay full of fandom love, the Black Series is ready for what comes next.